The Man Who Won The Cold War

According to George Clooney and his buddies, people in Hollywood have apparently always been ahead of the rest of the class when it comes to world issues. Whether it is Clooney himself or some other has been action star such as Danny Glover we were never without the ability to hear such wonderful knowledge being spewed by one of these turds. It has kind of slowed down of late, but a few years back on any given day we could turn on the television and see a star poppin off at the mouth.

In the 80's we were very scared of the big bad Russians. We were treated to Red Dawn, a movie about the Russians and their allies invading the United States and a band of young high school students fighting back. Seeing this movie as a kid I almost hoped for the Russians to invade so I could be a "Wolverine." Then the all too famous Invasion U.S.A. was thrusted upon us and we were treated to Chuck Norris fighting off communist guerillas or communistas. Now add in Rambo II in the mix and we have a trifecta of Hollywood movies that inject an idea of fear towards Russia. Clooney was right. Hollywood types are smart because without these movies I would have never been able to sleep at night. As long as we had heroes such as Mr. Norris, Stallone or Patrick Swayze himself, the Russians would have surely attacked us. I am certain they saw these movies and changed their minds and decided to leave us alone.

These movies can all stand by themselves in telling the tale that at the time, we were afraid of the Soviet Union. Nuclear war and the end as we know it was near. Hell, even the small screen got into the game when The Day After came out starring Jason Robards. I remember my mom and dad wouldn't let me watch it. That is how serious of a movie it was. I was banned from the harsh realities of nuclear war at the age of 10. Thankfully the scenario was fictitious and it never played out because I would not have known what to do in case of a nuclear war. Since this movie came out some 26 years ago I have matured into the adult I am today and I definitely know what to do now in case a few bombs are exchanged.

Up to this point I was afraid of all things Russian. However in 1985 a movie came out that changed the landscape. Never in my life had I seen a movie that made me no longer fear Russia. At this time Stallone was already enjoying domestic success from an earlier in the year release of Rambo II. November movie releases are usually reserved for what the big picture companies believe are Oscar worthy. So when United Artists released Rocky IV on November 27th, they thought, and I agree, they had a winner on their hands. When I found out this movie did not receive any awards I was shocked. After all this movie had a direct result on how the U.S. viewed and finally would deal with the rest of the world. Send Rocky.

This movie was a parallel to the struggle our country had against The Soviet Union. They had more land and must have had a bigger army. So the Russian representative in the picture was Ivan Drago. A huge physical specimen at the time. Early in the movie he is pitted against Apollo Creed. He kills Creed viciously in the ring while Rocky watches in disbelief. This is yet another parallel to our fight against Mother Russia, in the beginning we would have to take some casualties in order to prevail. In steps Rocky to fight for no money, no title, just to avenge his friend's death. He didn't do it for the glory. He did it because he knew it was the right thing to do. If your buddy dies in your arms in combat you want some revenge for the fallen. This is exactly what our hero Rocky does.

Rocky, or the True American Hero as I like to call him, fights the bigger Russian, knocks him out, in doing so he avenges his friend's death. The plot does not stop there. It is part of a much bigger picture that has had world implications since the film was released.

This movie obviously wasn't about just boxing. Any fool can see that. It was about two political views going up against one another. Capitalism versus Communism. Russia versus U.S.A. The makers of this film had the foresight to see that eventually we were going to have to address the Russians. Rocky faced off against the Russians so all of us could live in a world free of fear.

Shortly after this film was released The Soviet Union fell. Rocky IV and the once feared Soviets will forever be intertwined. On behalf of all Americans that no longer fear a Russian invasion I take this time to say thank you to our True American Hero, Rocky Balboa, the man who won The Cold War.

I actually hated this movie. The dialogue was horrible, the fight scenes were way to fake and the characters in it were under developed. I just feel that the implications it had on our nation's foreign policy cannot go overlooked any more.

This picture says it all.